Emergency crews note Fourth of July quiet in Grandview

GRANDVIEW - Things were quiet for emergency crews in Grandview over the Fourth of July holiday. Grandview is one of the few Yakima Valley communities where fireworks are not outlawed.

Assistant Police Chief Armando Martinez said the local police department responded to very few firework-related incidents over the holiday weekend. He added that this year the department likely received fewer calls than usual when it comes to the Fourth of July.

Martinez said he attributes the fewer number of calls to the community's safe use of fireworks.

Grandview Fire Chief Charles Damron agreed with Martinez, noting that it was a quiet weekend for his department, as well.

Damron said the fire department responded to two small brush fires on the Fourth of July, with one call coming in around 11 p.m. on July 4 and the other closer to midnight. He said both calls were fireworks related, but added that there was minimal damage done.

"We were not really that busy," Damron said. He added that this year the department responded to fewer fire calls than last year, when they received approximately six calls.

According to Damron, one of the reasons there were so few incidents over the holiday has to do with the lack of open ground in Grandview. He explained that before the Fourth of July the city sends out weed abatement letters, trying to get people to clean up any areas of town where there are empty lots or tall weeds.

"There's really not a lot to burn," he said.

According to Grandview City Hall, it is legal to sell fireworks from noon on July 1 until midnight on July 4, and it is legal to light fireworks from 8 a.m. to midnight on July 4.